Ross Brawn Is A Good Man

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Let the Post Season Begin

Less than a week into the post season and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is champion... for now. A stunning start in Brazil combined with ill timed malfunctions in his title competitor's car and Raikkonen smiled like the Formula 1 world had never seen.

In fitting form the season ends with a question mark following another legal appeal to change the outcome of events. Banned British team McLaren Mercedes has voiced their desire to appeal on a fuel temperature issue.

Meanwhile, the forces that be in the FIA, World Motorsports Council and Manufacturers have agreed that F1 will freeze all engine development in the years to come.

20 weeks until Melbourne.

Find out the latest in the latest edition of the Rampage Racing Report

The Ultimate Round of the Season

The 2007 Formula One World Drivers Championship concludes this long year by treating its fans to a three way show down for the title this weekend in Brazil.

This round determines which driver has earned the right to call himself the best in the world.

Lewis Hamilton landed in Brazil with a seven point lead over teammate and reigning double world champion Fernando Alonso. Fierce intra-team battle awaits the McLaren duo with the pressure on Alonso to defend his titles against the rookie sensation with just 3 points separating the two.

Kimi Raikkonen on the other hand rides the victory momentum of China in a sport where momentum is the name of the game.

The Final Race.

 RRR 26 - Click here to listen...

Raikkonen Wins On Hamilton Error

A beet red Kimi Raikkonen took his fifth win of the 2007 season for Ferrari at the Shanghai International Circuit after a costly pitlane error by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton shot into the wet pit lane carrying too much speed for a badly damaged rear tire to handle, cut the turn-in and parked the car in the gravel pit-side. The rookie had a 12 point lead over teammate Fernando Alonso; 17 over Raikkonen.

Raikkonen's win brings him within seven points of Hamilton while Alonso closes the gap to four with his second place finish.

Felipe Massa filled out the rest of the podium in third place.

Scuderia Toro Rosso triumphed as 20 year-old Sebastien Vettel brought the team its best finish ever with a fourth place drive. Teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi slotted in at 6 making it another first for the team; first time both cars finished in the points.

The mild rain did its job as equalizer with great finishes for normally slow teams. STR did a great job. Honda brought Jenson Button home with his best finish of the season in fifth.

The most interesting part of the race was witnessing rookie Lewis Hamilton make a driver error. The McLaren driver over-used his tires exposing the inner bands and hit the pit lane too quickly.

Hamilton's impatience gifted Alonso and Raikkonen the chance to do battle for the championship in the final round at Brazil.

Fittingly, the title fight has ended in Brazil in the previous two seasons and will do so again in 2007.

1. K. Raikkonen
2. F. Alonso
3. F. Massa
4. S. Vettel
5. J. Button
6. V. Liuzzi
7. N. Heidfeld
8. D. Coulthard

6th Pole Of The Season

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton added another pole position to his resume in Shanghai.

The Britain narrowly edged out the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

Teammate Fernando Alonso made his 12 point battle even more difficult by failing to out qualify Hamilton. Alonso needs to score at least two points more than Hamilton this weekend to keep his title hopes alive.

Qualifying took place in dry conditions but the forecast calls for a 90% chance of rain in the afternoon. Teams like Renault and Williams appeared to be good in the corners but slow in a straight line. Results like those suggest the teams are set up with rain in mind and could be kick if it pours like it did in Japan!

1. L. Hamilton
2. K. Raikkonen
3. F. Massa
4. F. Alonso
5. D. Coulthard
6. R. Schumacher
7. M Webber
8. N. Heidfeld
9. R. Kubica
10. J. Button

Operation Egg Roll Is A Go

Imagine trying to get a good night of sleep when you know that the $450 million investment of the entire team is in the air.

Lewis Hamilton awaits the decision by the stewards at the Chinese Grand Prix about his involvement in a collision in the rain last week.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen looks too far back to be a contender for the title - a 5th place finish for Hamilton takes care of the Finn.

If Hamilton wins the Chinese GP he becomes the youngest world champion in the 57 year history of Formula 1. Oh, and watch out for imminent dragon attacks!

Listen to the podcast - always free!

Hamilton's 1st Title Within Reach

Rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton continued his trek to the championship with another impressive win.

Round 15 at the Fuji circuit was one of the wettest on record - just the 4th ever to be started behind the safety car.

For nearly 20 laps Hamilton showed supreme skill by following behind the Mercedes CLK 63 AMG safety car and boy was it... boring. Once the pack was finally allowed out on its own the race was kept under control by Hamilton who led his teammate by 2 points in the standings.

When teammate Alonso violently crashed his McLaren into a lovely white wall Hamilton was gifted the luxury of a guarunteed lead no matter what his result.

The rain allows for strange things to happen including a wonderful performance by rookie Renault talent Heikki Kovalainen who took his first F1 podium position with a stunning second place.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen made it two Finnish drivers on the podium for the first time in the sports' history. His podium finish keeps him in third place for the championship but a distant 17 points behind Hamilton.

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Heikki Kovalainen
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. David Coulthard
5. Giancarlo Fisichella
6. Felipe Massa
7. Robert Kubica
8. Vitantonio Liuzzi *

*Liuzzi was found to have passed another car under yellow and penalized 25 seconds on his final time. The penalty bumped Spyker's Adrian Sutil to 8th gifting both team and driver with their first ever points scored. Scuderia Toro Rosso plan to appeal the decision.

McLaren Back To Court

Following exclusion from the 2007 Constructors' Championship and a shocking $100 million fine, McLaren management return to Paris to settle an appeal stemming from round 12 in Hungary.

The stewards at the Hungaroring stripped McLaren of any points following a bizarre intrateam battle shaped up in the final qualifying session.

McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton refused to concede his track position to teammate and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso as the two cars left the pits to begin Q3 - the final shoot-out for pole position.

Following Hamilton's failure to cooperate, Alonso struck back. With limited time left in the session the drivers headed to pit lane for a new set of tires and a final run at pole.

Alonso stopped first. Following an unusually long wait for the purpose of sending Alonso onto a track free of traffic the man set to cue the Spanish driver lifted his lollipop pit sign and watched as Alonso - remained still for an additional 10 seconds. The extra 10 seconds effectively squashed Hamilton's chances of putting in a final fast lap.

These actions at the beginning and end of the session led the stewards at the track to believe that McLaren team management had influenced the outcome of qualifying.

McLaren now face the task of proving the track officials wrong in Parisian court.

The twist:
Following the conclusion of the season long spy scandal, McLaren will score no constructors' points and thus the battle this week in court seems futile.

The key is that McLaren can still appeal the decision over the spying and thus the 15 points they lost in Hungary could still prove valuable in besting current leaders, Ferrari.

CEO of Ferrari Jean Todt isn't resting until the window for appeal is closed at which time the Ferrari team can let out a sigh of relief and relish a 15th crown.

Cram It!

The season is closing out with just five more rounds remaining. The battle heads to Monza, Italy for round 13 - the Italian GP.

Chris has the full scoop on the race and we talk about the musical chair game that is the driver's market for 2008.

Schmacher, Fisichella, and Wurz all have the pressure on to prove why they deserve a seat for 08 while some of the younger drivers shoot to move up on the F1 totem pole.

 Click here...

McLaren Fined Chump Change

Word came down from the stewads in Monza today that the McLaren team has been fined $50,000(USD) following a breach in the sporting regulations article 16.

The article requires teams that make a significant change to the crash structure of a contesting car to pass the strict safety crash tests in order to be legal for racing.

McLaren introduced a new ultra light weight gear box for the Hungarian GP without first testing for safety with the FIA. Following the Hungarian race, McLaren took care of the tests and were found to be within the set limits for safety and thus were not penalized further than monetarily.

$50,000 seems like a fortune, but for a team that spends upward of $200 million per season... jerks!

Spyker Update

Despite driving the slowest car in the field, Spyker F1's Adrian Sutil looks set to have a secure future for at least one more year. Spyker announced that it hopes to retain the young German for 2008, but it swings on the availability of other rides on pitlane and his own commitment to the Spyker team.

Sutil still has time to wait for potential rides forward in the field. Williams have yet to corfirm the status of Alexander Wurz who has under-performed his much younger teammate, Nico Rosberg. Japenese financial powerhouse Toyota have a seat in question. 32 year old Ralf Shumacher hopes to keep his job after an up and down season and questionable mega-salary. If Ralf gets a ride in '08 expect it to come at a big paycut.

A Cow Friendly GP?

Modern F1 circuit designer German Tilke journeyed this week to India in an attempt to lock down the location for an Indian GP. The site will likely be held outside of the capital city New Dehli.

Indian wealth mogul Vijay Mallya joined forces with Michiel Mol this week in an attempt to save/buy out the Spyker F1 team. With an Indian team in mind, Mallya expects a supporting GP to be appropriate.

An Indian F1 team also spells potential good news for Nahrain Karthakeyan who spent one season driving for Jordan and is now test driver at Williams F1. Karthakeyan holds the honor of being the first Indian to compete in Formula 1.

To Monza They Go

McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton took to the Italian track on the first day of testing and was able to set the fastest time of the day. Monza is the track where Hamilton secured his GP2 championship last season before joining the silver arrows of McLaren.

Hamilton just edged out Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and BMW's Nick Heidfeld in a slightly short session that ended in afternoon rain showers.

The teams intend to pick back up tomorrow for more running barring potential day long storms. This year the F1 has introduced much tighter limits to testing and if rain is in the forecast the teams may choose to stay an additional day so as not to waste test time on wet weather runs.

Preceding this weeks test and following race, Monza track officials resonded to long time driver requests to replace the gravel run off areas at the second chicane with ashphalt runoff zones.

The Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) pleded for changes to accomodate safety concerns associated with chance of lift off in the gravel areas. Monza is the fastest circuit of the season and with the guard rails so close to the track great attention to safety detail must be taken.

Efforts of the such help to ensure comfort among the drivers whilst traveling so quickly and with minimal aerodynamic downforce.

Massa Does it Again!

History repeated itself this weekend as Ferrari's Felipe Massa took his second consecutive win in Turkey leading from pole to checkered flag.

Bad luck struck rookie championship leader Lewis Hamilton blew a tire just before his second pitstop dropping him from 3rd to 5th. The tire incident benefited Hamilton's teammate Fernando Alonso who now is just 5 points out of the lead with 5 races remaining in the season.

Massa usurps 3rd place from his teammate Kimi Raikkonen by one point but still lies 15 points back. Raikkonen brought home his second consecutive P2 finish in another boring race for the Finn.

Points scorers:
1. Massa
2. Raikkonen
3. Alonso
4. Heidfeld
5. Hamilton
6. Kovalainen
7. Rosberg
8. Kubica

Get off the pot!

After 11 rounds of the 2007 Formula 1 season, front runners McLaren and Ferrari are battling to the end with non-stop development hoping to get every tenth of a second from their cars.

BMW have a firm grip on 3rd place in the constructors standings. For everyone else the time has come to decide on the proper course of action for the remainder of the season.

Some teams may continue to develop their cars for a final push at the end. Toyota have slowly improved this season and hope to build upon their 12 points. More points equals more sponsor and television money for 2008.

Other teams will likely decide to conclude further major improvements of their challengers for 07 and begin to focus solely upon their 2008 machinery.

Renault have disclosed their intentions to shift their focus to next year.

One must start to assume that Honda, though not yet openly, have ditched their plans for improving the dismal 2007 car and begun work on recalibrating their wind tunnel for work on the 2008 machine.

Lookout for Spyker F1 this week as they debut their b-spec car in an attempt to close the gap to the back of the pack.

NASCAR Bound Scott Speed?

Recent speculation has linked American Scott Speed with a ride for 2008 back in the USA.

Speed was released by F1's Scuderia Toro Rosso after round 10 at the Nurburgring. The American severed ties with F1 but kept his relationship with Austrian energy drink company Red Bull in good standings.

One thing to keep in mind is that Speed will likely find work in the States but it doesn't limit him to open wheel racing.

Red Bull are the sponsors of the Toyota factory NASCAR team and the wheels may already be turning for his move to a cowboy hat!

Bourdais to Toro Rosso - Harmful?

At the end of last week Champcar World Series triple champion Sebastien Bourdais announced his venture into Formula 1 with Red Bull sponsored Scuderia Toro Rosso. Bourdais is the second driver to be named for 2008 next to 20 year old Sebastian Vettel.

This announcement means two Toro Rosso vets are out next season - Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed. Both drivers have responded to the situation with a surprising sense of relief and seem almost more relaxed knowing their respective fates. The vibe of both drivers seems to reflect that the team is functioning in chaos with weak leadership from team bosses Franz Tost and Gerhard Berger.

The question is now how will the relationship with newcomers Vettel and Bourdais and the team carry on?

Bourdais has little to prove to himself by heading to F1 but does have a family to care for and thus is not solely self motivated. Vettel may have more on the line in the switch from test driver at BMW to full time racer with Toro Rosso. If he doesn't prove himself with this back of the pack team his options could become more limited in the future.

Will the apparent disorder at Toro Rosso be enough to unnerve either driver and perhaps diminish the wonderful opportunities to race in the most elite form of motosport? Other drivers have joined smaller teams and made the world for themselves - Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, and Fernando Alonso are all names that immediately come to mind with teams like Jordan, Sauber, Minardi and more.

The weight falls on Toro Rosso to get their act together and learn to manage a team that now sits on a wealth (literally) of talent that can produce results and help brand Toro Rosso as a mid pack contender - or at the least a viable stepping stone to larger teams.

Scott Speed Back In America?

Following his early departure from the Scuderia Toro Rosso mid season, American Scott Speed is searching out his options for the 2008 race season.

Speed openly hit out at Toro Rosso team bosses Tost and Berger before being let go from the team prior to the Hungarian GP.

According to his website, the American is headed back to... America! He still has the blessings of Red Bull, main sponsor of Toro Rosso, despite the rocky split and the Austrian energy drink company has encouraged Speed to head back to America for a potential seat in 2008.

No mention yet has been made of which series he may join, but in 2004 he tested for the Red Bull Cheever Racing IRL team.

Bourdais signs with Toro Rosso

Champ Car World Series reigning triple champion Sebastien Bourdais inked a drive with Toro Rosso for 2008. The move to F1 comes as little surprise after several successful tests with Italian, Red Bull backed squad.

The 28 year old from Le Mans, France, will be paired with 20 year old Sebastian Vettel in '08.

The news means that now both drivers who started the 2007 season for Toro Rosso will not return for a third season.

American Scott Speed was removed from the team after the European GP at the Nurburgring and replaced by Vettel for the rest of the season while Vitantonio Liuzzi will finish off the season for the Italian team.

Where the crap have i been?

From autosport:

2008 Season
16 March Australia
23 March Malaysia
6 April Bahrain
27 April Spain
11 May Turkey
25 May Monaco
8 June Canada *
22 June France
6 July Great Britain
20 July Germany
3 August Hungary
24 August** Europe ***
7 September Italy
14 September Belgium
28 September** Singapore
12 October China
19 October Japan
2 November Brazil

* Provisional.
** Subject to circuit approval.
*** The 2008 European Grand Prix will take place in Valencia.